The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, large groups of Israeli settlers chanted racist slogans at Palestinians in Hebron and Israeli forces closed off large portions of the city for its Palestinian residents. Israeli forces assaulted and arrested 1 Palestinian minor in Jayyous. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers attacked 1 Palestinian minor with stones in the French Hill neighborhood, causing severe injuries to his face. Some 230 Israeli settlers also stormed the Haram al-Sharif compound; the PA and Jordan condemned Israel for allowing the settlers access. Israeli forces raided Silwan leading to clashes with Palestinians; tear-gas related injuries were reported. 3 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in al-Tur and Issawiyya. In Israel, Israelis attacked a transport van and its Palestinian driver in West Jerusalem after yelling that the driver was “Arab,” when the Palestinian driver tried to escape the mob he inadvertently killed 1 Israeli man with his vehicle; Israeli police initially arrested the Palestinian man but released him 36 hours and started rounding up 12 Israelis who had attacked the Palestinian man; the Palestinian man’s lawyer said in court that the attack was “a lynching.” (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/28; JP 3/1; HA, PCHR 3/4)

All checkpoints to Gaza and the West Bank were closed by Israel for the Purim holiday. Closures ended at midnight. (HA 2/25)

The Israeli cabinet approved starting to vaccinate Palestinians from the West Bank holding Israeli work permits and Palestinians working in Israeli settlements. Vaccination centers will be set up at West Bank crossings. The decision came days after the PA said that Israel and the PA had agreed that Israel would vaccinate Palestinian workers. (AP, HA, NYT, REU, TOI, TOI 2/28)

8 of 9 judges on the Israeli supreme court voted to overturn the Israeli central elections committee’s decision to disqualify the Palestinian-Israeli Labor party candidate Ibtisam Mara’ana from running in the Israeli elections. The Israeli central elections committee disqualified Mara’ana from running upon request by the racist far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party on 2/17. (HA 2/28)

Israel designated the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity organization a terrorist organization for its ties to the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine. (JP 2/28)

The Syrian army said Israel fired rockets at southern Damascus from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights; there were no reports of casualties or damage. (AP, HA 2/28; AJ, JP 3/1)

Iran rejected an invitation to discuss reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) at an informal meeting with the U.S. and European stakeholders, saying that European and American parties have made actions and statements in the recent past that do not make the timing right for Iran. Iran later said that the U.S. should lift the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration before the parties can begin to engage on reviving the JCPOA. (AJ 2/28; REU 3/1)

Some 450 lawmakers in European countries and in the EU parliament signed a letter to EU High Representative Josep Borrell and European foreign ministers urging them to pressure Israel to stop the “de facto annexation” of the West Bank. (HA 2/28; WAFA 3/1)

In the West Bank, the IDF seals Attara nr. Ramallah for 3 hrs. after troops discover a suspicious object during vehicle checks at the entrance to the village. The IDF conducts late-night raids, house searches nr. Qalqilya and Salfit and in Jenin town and r.c., but makes no arrests; a Palestinian whose house is raided reports money missing. The IDF also patrols and opens fire in Qabatya but makes no arrests and causes no injuries. Jewish settlers fr. Susia, escorted by the IDF, erect tents and set up electricity generators on an unauthorized settlement outpost site nr. Hebron that was dismantled by the IDF on 9/9. The Israeli High Court, ruling on a petition filed in 2003, orders the IDF to dismantle sections of the separation wall in Khirbat Jibara and Jayyus n. of Qalqilya, reinstating Palestinian access to 2,488 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of land. (OCHA 9/11; OCHA, PCHR 9/17; OCHA Humanitarian Monitor 9/09)

In Silwan in East Jerusalem, a Jewish settler shoots, wounds 1 Palestinian, also hitting 1 Palestinian teenager with shrapnel; the settler is arrested by Israeli police. The al-Aqsa Association reports that the Israeli authorities are digging a new tunnel under Silwan. (NYT 9/12; OCHA , PCHR 9/17; OCHA Humanitarian Monitor 9/09)